Pride & Prejudice Book Club Podcast

Longtime listeners may remember that we covered Seasons of Waiting years ago on the podcast, but after years of waiting (ha!), Sharon finally took the plunge and read it. Against all odds, this book actually made Sharon feel bad for Bingley!

Together we unpack Christina Morland’s beautifully layered, nonlinear story as it weaves through 25 years of heartbreak, missed opportunities, fractured relationships, and second chances. We discuss the devastating estrangement between Darcy and Bingley, Georgiana’s heartbreaking marriage struggles, the emotional weight of caregiving and family responsibility, and why older, wiser versions of Darcy and Elizabeth are so enjoyable.

Along the way, Sharon reflects on motherhood, friendship, vulnerability, and the surprising ways fiction can become a “safe mirror” for our own lives and relationships. We also talk about Will Darcy’s persistent attempts to connect with his uncle, Lizzy’s absolutely elite re-entrance scene at Netherfield, and why this book feels less like a simple romance and more like a tapestry of interconnected lives.

Plus: We declare the beginning of Hot Regency Summer and tease our upcoming review of The Other Bennet Sister. So much to look forward to!

Episode Credits:
🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis & Sharon Cortez
🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.
📚 See a list of books we've read at prideandprejudicebookclub.com!
➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!
✍️ Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd

Have you ever wondered what Pride and Prejudice would be like if you combined it with...The Parent Trap?

No?

Well, prepare to be surprised!

Author Jayne Bamber returns to the podcast to celebrate the release of her newest novel, The Guardian Gambit, which just launched on April 29th and is now available on Kindle Unlimited. Inspired by The Parent Trap, this latest variation promises mistaken identities, long-lost connections, and plenty of romantic chaos, and we share just enough on the podcast to spark your curiosity (without giving too much away).

We also spend time diving into her recent release, The Sisters' Holiday, a Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility remix inspired by the movie The Holiday. We explore Jayne’s love of bold reinterpretations, from unexpected pairings and “spoiled by choice” heroines to villain redemption arcs that add surprising depth to familiar characters. We also talk about how shifting the stakes (whether through money, social standing, or simply giving characters more agency) opens up entirely new possibilities for romance, and how modern relationship expectations are subtly reshaping the way these stories are told.

Fair warning: this part of the conversation does include spoilers, so if that book is still on your TBR, you may want to circle back after reading!

Along the way, Jayne shares behind-the-scenes insights into her writing process, the joy of weaving together large casts of beloved characters, and why rom-com energy and nostalgia continue to influence the JAFF world in such fun and creative ways.

 

Episode Credits:

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis

🎵 Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

✍️ Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd

A grand estate. A brooding widower. A new wife arriving in the shadow of the one who came before. Sound familiar? Julie Cooper took the bones of Rebecca and rebuilt them at Pemberley, and the result is a fascinatingly atmospheric variation that's worth a closer look.

This week, Emilie is joined by listener and live book club regular Kelley Larsson, who loves Nameless for the slow burn, the rich imagery, and a Darcy she finds deeply, genuinely relatable. And thankfully for us, she came ready to talk about all of it!

We dig into the Rebecca connection, including what Julie Cooper was clearly inspired by, what she transformed, and why this Pemberley is so much darker than the one we know from canon. We explore the marriage of convenience plot (at least, from Elizabeth's perspective it is!), and the shocking Caroline Bingley twist. Plus, Aunt Gardiner delivers some great marital advice!

Fair warning: full spoilers for both Rebecca and Nameless throughout.

Episode Credits:

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Kelley Larsson

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!

Apply To Be a Co-Host Here: https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/nerd

The Cat Andrews author interview is here! If you've ever finished one of her modern Pride and Prejudice variations and immediately wanted more, this episode is for you!

Cat sits down with Emilie to share her origin story: how a love for Colin Firth led her to Jane Austen, how fan fiction communities like A Happy Assembly and the Derbyshire Writers' Guild shaped her as a writer, and what finally pushed her to publish. She gives a behind-the-scenes view of creating her books (Dance the Tide, Sanctuary, An Unexpected Harvest, Against Every Objection, and the holiday novella An Old Acquaintance), including which story is her current favorite.

Cat also opens up about the harder parts of being a modern variation author in a Regency-dominated space: the visibility struggles, the dismissive attitudes around moderns she's encountered, and what ultimately led her to take a break from publishing.

And as a special treat for fans of An Unexpected Harvest, a hefty chunk of the conversation digs into that book specifically, from what inspired the concept to the creative choices that make it feel so different from a typical variation. Cat gets into all of it!

Whether you're a longtime Cat Andrews fan or just discovering her work, this conversation is honest, warm, and full of great insight into a talented author!

Confession time: Emilie almost missed out on one of her favorite variations because a little "pride" and "prejudice" against modern variations got in her way!

This week we're gushing over An Unexpected Harvest by Cat Andrews, a book that Emilie initially started, set back down, and waited weeks to pick back up. But she's so glad she did! Much like Darcy, Emilie discovered that what she thought would be merely "tolerable" turned out to be very, very tempting indeed...

Here's what blew us away: An Unexpected Harvest follows Pride and Prejudice almost beat for beat in the first half, and then Cat Andrews throws the playbook out and lets the story breathe. And honestly? That second half might be our favorite part! Add in a gender swap that works incredibly well, character name-shuffling that kept us genuinely guessing what would happen next, and a main couple with a relationship that felt real, and we had a lot to say.

Some bigger themes snuck in too, like ideas around wanting to be independent individuals while still craving having a person to depend on, and why women giving up their dreams for love is somehow still a whole conversation we're having in 2026. Plus, a candid conversation about spice (no judgment here!) and how Cat Andrews brilliantly writes spice that feels character-driven and important to the narrative.

If you've been on the fence about modern variations, this might be the episode — and the book — that changes your mind. We're also sharing what's on our Kindles right now, teasing our upcoming Live Book Club with Heather Moll's A Most Natural Consequence on April 25th, and dropping some very exciting news about an upcoming author interview with Cat Andrews herself.

 

Episode Credits:

🎙️ Hosted by Emilie Davis and Sharon Cortez

🎵 Music Credit: Pride & Prejudice Book Club Theme composed, performed, and arranged by Megan Mason.

📚 See a list of books we've read at prideandprejudicebookclub.com!

➡️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and sign up for our newsletter at https://www.prideandprejudicebookclub.com/newsletter!